Just been to the vet

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Rachaelf

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My guinea who is 7 in July has back teeth issues but he only weighs 700g and with his age he can't be anaesthetised to sort them out as he'd be unlikely to survive it. She said it'll be too stressful and dangersous to do it without anaesthetic as she can't really see anyway and there's a risk of hitting an artery or causing him to have a heart attack. Basically she said he's only got a few months to live 8... He's my baby, full of character and much more like a dog than a guineapig, I've had a lot of guineas and he stands out. He tells you off if he's fed up with you, come over to you when you tap the ground, uses a litter tray and knows the entire downstairs layout of the house. When loose he tries to eat cat food, plastic bags and chocolate! So we have to move them or he finds them pretty quickly. I love him to bits.

guineas


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Hi there

so sorry to hear that your piggle is having teeth issues :(

Dont give up on him just because the vet said what they did we had a guinea pig Jules who lost weight and was about the same weight as your piggle - we left him at the vets for two days so they could syringe feed him etc (are you syringe feeding to keep his weight up and get food into him?) and they even put him under general anaesthesia (he was nearly 5) and they phoned us to say he had severe issues with a tooth and to bascically put him down (no chance that was happening) they referred us to a rodentologist in edinburgh who wanted nearly 700quid just to admit him and examine him that wasnt treatment grrr

we have a lovely friend Laura in Cambridge (Laura CCC-4 on here) who had agreed to have our two piggies while we were away on holiday due to Jules needing syringe fed

Within hours of us leaving him with Luara she had discovered a huge abscess which our vet had completely missed :( he also had a slightly overgrown back tooth which was filed down. He was syringe fed and became his lively self again and his weight did increase slightly and steadily

He had a major op to remove the abscess completely and he did well for a few days afterwards but unfortunately the op took so much out of him he didnt make it but without Laura and everyone who was involved in his excellent care he wouldnt have had those extra few weeks of life

have a look on www.guineapighelpline.com there are contact details for Laura xx
 
I'm sorry sorry to hear about your guinea pig :( He's so adorable. I remember when I found out that there was nothing left to do for my Ringo, I know how it feels so hugs to you :(

But like mojules said, don't give up yet, there might still be hope! I really hope there is.
 
Thanks for the replies. He is still eating fresh grass ok. He can manage a bit of dried food and a tiny bit of fresh but struggles with both. If I don't think he's eaten enough that day I've also syringe fed him occasionally but he hates this and is managing some foods by himself so I'm not doing it unless absolutely necessary so as not to distress him. Were going to soak some of his dried food. The vet said his back teeth are growing inwards and therefore can't wear down and that basically there could come a point where his tounge is trapped which is hurrendous to think about. But he may well die of something else before then. I'm not giving up on him, I never would, but I'm just trying to prepare myself. Maybe if he puts weight on they could do his teeth but chances are he wouldn't survive it with his age and even if he did they said they cannot guarantee he'd be able to eat ok again, plus it would just happen again. Life can be so cruel, he's happy in himself at the moment though.
 
Sorry to hear about your pig. I'm afriad that teeth grow very quickly and pigs lose weight very quickly if you dont syringe feed him. You really need to either get him looked at by someone who can look at back teeth without a GA (Laura or other rodentologist) or for certain you need to be syringe feeding him every 4 hours. Please get in touch with Laura for advice because if you dont do something he is going to slowly starve to death over the next few weeks which I know you wont want to happen. So sorry to put it this way but you have to see the seriousness of this xx
 
sorry to hear about your baby. sounds like he's had a good life with you, he is a lucky pig! good luck with finding other options and extending his life.
 
My vet had implied my piggy didnt stand much chance (back molars growing towards each other trapping tongue) but a 2nd opinion has not only saved her life but given her every chance of a very promising and healthy future with most likely non-GA teeth filing every 2 months or so.

Maybe its worth a 2nd opinion with a very good guinea pig vet ?

xx
 
sending hugs this must be so hard for you will keep you in my thoughts I am sure what ever you do for your baby it will be the right thing to do as reading you messages it comes over how much you love him.
 
Thanks for your kind comments.

I'm in Preston, Lancs.

CandyFloss, can I ask how old your guinea is? Did it not stress your guinea out? I've seen video clips and I think it would stress my little boy, to possibly him dying of stress with his age as vet said and theres the risk of cutting an artery.
 
You are clearly weighing up the risks before you make a decision so just wanted to add some extra information in response to some of your thoughts:

a) not all pigs who have dentals need to have them done freqently. Grommie had his first dental at the age of 6 for molars growing around/into the tongue....he didn;t need another one for a year. It does seem that piggies who have dental problems at an early age are the ones who need more frequent treatment

b) There is always a risk for any procedure but unless he has an underlying heart condition or respiratory problem, he is unlikely to suffer a heart attack or stroke from either stress or a GA with an experienced practitioner

c) His age is not a big issue - we have guinea pigs on the forum who have reached 10 years of age so whilst he is doing very well at 7 years there may be a lot of piggie years left for him yet. I have 6 and 7 year old piggies that have dentals with or without GA and also have had surgery (and they all have chronic pneumonia). My vet is an extremely experienced piggie vet and none of them have had any problems with GA.

d) His biggest issue is that he is weak and underweight which means he may not have the strength to recover after the GA. It is important you try and put some weight on him by feeding him with 120ml Critical Care or Supreme recovery per day (you might not need to syringe it - he might eat it off a spoon). If you can;t get your piggie to increase his weight over the next 48 hours you need to consider the difficult decision of either running the risk that he won;t make it through the dental procedure, letting him pass away from starvation/gut stasis, or putting him to sleep.

The most important thing is to find a person to treat your piggie who is not just competent but also willing and confident...and to be honest it sounds to me like your vet does not have enough confidence to want to attempt this proecdure on your piggie given the risks. That does not diminish their abilites in any way - it just means they recognise their own limitations and are not willing to proceed at the current time. (One of my vets refuses to do dentals without GA because he had a nasty accident with a rabbit artery once when filing back teeth without GA...the rabbit jerked its head because it wasn;t restrained adequately.Towel wrapping of guineas is not widely known amongst vets but it does restrain them properly for dentals and X rays)



If you do decide to get his teeth done, the best options available are:

i) an experienced rodentologist who can trim his teeth without GA -

You can register with the Cambridge Cavy Trust and take him to see Vedra as an urgent case (and he is an urgent case in view of his current weight)
The piggie is wrapped in a cotton pillow case and is not under any stress at all. I have had my 7 year old Grommie given a dental by CCT without any problems

I did a quick google and also found scarletguineas.co.uk in Rochdale who advertise rodentology services

ii) an experienced vet who performs dental work on piggies without GA

iii) an experienced vet who performs dental work on piggies with GA but has a lot of experience in GA's.

(Suggest you contact Becklen guinea pig rescue who are based in Gretna Green or a more local piggie rescue to you who may be able to advise on a suitable piggy dental vet)



HTH - you clearly love your piggie very much and want to make the best decision for him. Hope the information above is useful.
x
 
I don't think I can really offer anything more valuble that what you've already been given, but I do recommend parsley. Its very good for poorly piggies.

Fingers crossed your your pig.
 
Pebble- thanks for the info, it is appreciated. I've contacted Laura who people previously gave me details on. It's interesting to know that your guineas have had work done at 6 and 7 years of age.

I am very concerned that if he had dental work without a GA he may die of stress, as any trip to the vet does stress him or a cut artery. He is a bit of a wiggler and still strong enough to put up a bit of a fight. Also I'm a bit wary of getting it done by a rodentoloigists as they aren't qualified vets but I don't want to give up on him. The thought of leaving him to starve to death is awful.

My thoughts at the moment are to try and spend some more time with him and try and put more weight on him and try and risk GA as if he's going to die shortly either way I may as well give him a chance as if his teeth were ok he could live another year. But I've not fully decided yet, I don't want to make the wrong choice.
 
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